Project Seeks to Strengthen Fiscal Sustainability and Social Program EfficiencyWASHINGTON, March 19, 2015 – The World Bank Group’s (WBG) Board of Executive Directors approved a US$100 million loan today... Show More + to support the Paraguayan government’s efforts to strengthen the sustainability, equity and transparency of fiscal management; improve the efficiency of social programs and increase access to financial services among the most vulnerable population.“This new operation will allow us to take an important step towards strengthening specific social programs, as well as fiscal sustainability, equity and transparency. Paraguay needs to have at its disposal every financial tool available to fight social inequality, poverty and exclusion,” said Santiago Peña Palacios, Paraguay’s Minister of Finance. “Actions such as these will help us move towards that goal, and also represent a clear signal to the population that we are working to build a better society, an inclusive Paraguay.”Among other prior Show Less -

World Bank’s New Open Budgets Portal Creates Visual Access to Countries’ Budget DataWASHINGTON, December 16, 2013– The World Bank is launching a new Open Budgets Portal as part of its efforts to advance... Show More + fiscal transparency and open data around the world. High-quality budget data that can be easily accessed, visually compelling and used by a wide variety of stakeholders is essential to inform the decision making processes around public expenditures, and help citizens know how and where governments are spending their money.The Portal showcases a subset of countries and state governments that have released their entire public spending datasets and are disseminating them in accessible formats. This information will help evidence-based monitoring, analysis, and advocacy so citizens can hold their governments accountable for more efficient spending and improved services. Access to high quality budget data supports the work of governments, civil society, media and development partners - all o Show Less -